


This Bountiful Life

by FreshBrains



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Domestic, Fatherhood, Fluff, M/M, Meta, POV Shane, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4628139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreshBrains/pseuds/FreshBrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>God, Judith was perfect, and not only was she Shane's, she was <i>theirs</i>. His and Lori’s by blood, his and Rick’s by love, and they all survived it in one piece. </p><p>(Or, there's no walking dead and Rick and Shane are bisexual cop dads who make it work.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Bountiful Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gaialux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaialux/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Since this is an AU, there's no canon timeline, but Judith has obviously been born and Shane and Lori had an affair. Judith is biologically Shane's daughter.
> 
> There is no Lori bashing in this fic.

Shane hated waking up without Rick, but as he stretched from head to toe and felt the warmth of the early morning sun on his back, he couldn’t feel _too_ bad that Rick had the early shift and he got to stay in bed.

They both hated it at first, not being next to each other every day, not working in sync as they had for the previous ten years, even though they knew it wasn’t ethical for a couple to be partners on the force. They fought it until they realized Rick’s morning shift allowed him to pick up Carl after school on Fridays and take him and Judith out for supper while Shane was on his shift. Then Saturday mornings allowed Shane to be one-on-one with the kids, something all the lame parenting and divorce books they read said was important, especially if the new partner was already a part of the family’s life beforehand.

As if on cue, Judith gave a shrill cry from her bedroom across the hall, and Shane arched his back, stretching his sore muscles. “Getting there, baby girl,” he grumbled, tugging a pair of sweats over his boxers. He caught a glimpse of his back and shoulders in the mirror and opted for a tee-shirt as well—not only did he have a few bruises from taking down a weed dealer built like a brick shithouse on Wednesday, he had a smattering of reddish-purple marks that came straight from Rick’s teeth the night before.

“There she is,” Shane said, reaching down into Judith’s crib to pick her up and cradle her to his chest. “You’re up early, what’s up with that? Don’t you kids like to sleep in?” Judith’s crying quieted and her chubby face broke out into a smile when she saw her daddy’s sleep-lined face.

For the hundredth exhausting time since she was born, Shane felt a pang of love and devastation in his chest that came with the heated mantra _this kid is mine, this kid is mine._ And she was. There was no denying it, though they all chose to forego the paternity test. Along with Lori’s big eyes and chestnut hair, Judith had the unmistakable slope of Shane’s nose, the swell of his lips. Shane was a greedy man at heart. Rick was his, _finally_ , after those long high school days and early years on the force filled with sloppy kisses and drunk confessions, and Carl was his in a way he never thought he could be, that smart kid with his endless reckless curiosity that reminded Shane of himself when he was a little boy. Hell, he even tried to make Lori his in the way a desperate man tries to bite off more than he can chew, and then he almost lost all of them.

But Judith—she was different. God, she was _perfect_ , and not only was she his, she was _theirs_. His and Lori’s by blood, his and Rick’s by love, and they all survived it in one piece. Lori still lived in town with her husband and stepdaughters (two golden-haired girls who tormented and amused Carl in equal measure), and Shane curled up with his man in their apartment every night, feeling the scratch of his beard on the back of his neck.

“Did we do good, baby?” Shane rocked Judith slowly, her brown eyes staring up at him, and felt a swell of love rise in his chest. He took her to the changing table, making faces and talking to her the entire time. “Yeah, we did good. Your daddy’s done a lot of silly things, but he loves you, doesn’t he?”

“You know she can’t answer you, right?” Carl stood in the doorway in his flannel pajamas, hair sticking up in a million directions. He was still bleary-eyed from sleep.

“Smart-ass,” Shane said, smiling at Carl. “Hey, get me a new pack of diapers, okay?” He slipped Judith’s blue onesie out from under her and grabbed a fresh green one from the laundry basket. “Did you hear that? Your older brother’s a smart-ass. Don’t tell your daddy I swore.”

“Da,” Judith babbled, playing with a soft rabbit-shaped rattle as he cleaned her up. It was the word she used for both him and Rick, with Lori getting an emphatic “Um-a.”

Carl set a pack of diapers onto the bottom shelf of the changing table and sat on the rocking chair, hugging his knees to his chest. “Guess what’s on TV today.”

“Cartoons, I hope,” Shane said. “The only acceptable Saturday programming.”

“Better,” Carl said, eyes lighting with enthusiasm. “A zombie movie marathon. Ten hours of all the blood, guts, and brains you could ever want.”

Shane snorted, picking Judith up and handing her over to her brother, who always liked to hold and rock her in the morning before her bottle. “Your old man would kill me if I let you watch that crap. Then your mama would kill me again.” Even though he was good at playing at sternness, Shane was always fond of boasting how much Carl took after him—the boy liked getting dirty outside, playing cops and robbers, and watching scary movies that kept him up after bedtime. “Hell, let ‘em. We’re getting our zombie on today.”

Carl beamed, rocking Judith. “I’ll make pancakes.”

“ _I’ll_ make pancakes, short stuff,” he said with a firm glance, remembering the last time Carl almost burned the house down with the griddle. “I’ll warm the kid’s bottle and get some breakfast going. Want to feed her?”

The next hour was filled with easy weekend-morning quiet, the only sounds permeating the house being Judith’s delighted squeals as Carl played with her in the living room and the sizzle of pancake batter and bacon on the stovetop. As he cooked, Shane checked the calendar on the side of the fridge—Rick would be home at two, giving them two hours together before Shane had to head to the station for his shift and almost five hours of zombie movies with the kid. Shane would get home around one in the morning and collapse into bed, Rick sleeping like the dead beside him until the smell of Shane’s cologne woke him up and he pulled Shane into a bear-hug, eager to wring an orgasm out of his exhausted body.

And to their collected relief, they both had Sunday off, the one day of the week neither of them worked and they could spend all day together with the kids before taking them back to Lori’s.

“Okay, what’s on first?” Shane brought two breakfast plates into the living room.

Carl turned on the TV to a movie channel. “ _Dawn of the Dead_. The original.”

“My favorite,” Shane said, handing Carl his plate. He set his own on the end-table and made sure Judith was content in her play-pen before sitting on the sofa. Carl immediately snuggled in next to him—he was getting older, but he was definitely still a little boy, and was a relief to all of his parents.

There they remained for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, using the commercial breaks to clean up the kitchen, change and feed Judith, and answer Rick’s call at quarter to two to say he was on his way home. Carl still covered his eyes at the tense moments, and Shane covered Carl’s eyes for him when he knew there were really gory bits coming up.

Right as the very last survivor in _Night of the Living Dead_ was gunned down by overzealous police, making Carl yell out in anger and Shane laugh at his reaction since he’d seen it before, a key jiggled the front door.

“This doesn’t sound like cartoons,” Rick said, closing the door. He tried to sound stern, but he was smiling at his boys curled up on the sofa.

“Dad!” Carl jumped up and greeted Rick with a hug, skinny arms wrapping around Rick’s neck. “Can you believe they shot Ben?”

Rick laughed, holding Carl close. “You don’t say.” He winked at Shane over Carl’s shoulder. “Shane, can you believe they shot Ben?”

“Damn cops,” Shane said dryly, winking back. He went to Judith’s play-pen and picked her up. “Daddy’s home, girly-girl,” he said, kissing her forehead before passing her to Rick. “She’s been vocal this morning. Carl almost got a ‘Ca’ out of her.”

“There’s my sweetheart,” Rick said, gazing down at Judith with the same adoration in his eyes that Shane always had. He sat down with her on the sofa, holding her up against his chest. “It was a slow morning and I’m still worn out. We must be getting old.”

“Speak for yourself,” Shane said. He nudged Rick forward until he could sit behind him on the couch to rub his shoulders. “I’m young and full of life, old man.” He dug his elbow into a particularly tight spot on Rick’s back, earning a groan from his man—one of his favorite sounds in the world. Rick smelled like rich cologne, clean sweat, and coffee, and since Carl was still entranced by the movie’s epilogue, he pressed a kiss beneath Rick’s ear. “We’ve been a couple a’ bums today.”

“I can see that,” Rick said, shuddering beneath Shane’s kiss. “And if Carl gets nightmares, you’re sleeping on the floor when he comes into our room tonight.”

“I won’t get nightmares,” Carl said stubbornly. “Are we still going to the park today? I saw a really cool rock there on Thursday and I want to see if anyone moved it.”

“Sure we are,” Rick said, leaning his head back as Shane’s hands moved over him. “Unless I melt into this couch.”

“Go get dressed,” Shane said to Carl. “I’ll make sure your daddy stays in solid form.”

Right as Carl disappeared into the bathroom and the sink started running, Rick twisted around to kiss Shane, hard and full and tasting like peppermint gum and…

Shane pulled away, brow knit. “You start smoking again?”

Rick sighed. “Yeah, I bought a pack today. Smoked one before chucking ‘em, though.”

Rick hadn’t smoked much in years, and he quit indefinitely after Judith was born, but bad habits died hard. Shane didn’t fault him for it—he had enough vices of his own to contend with. “Any particular reason?”

Judith stirred in Rick arms, so Rick stood and sat on the floor so she could play on her blanket. “I don’t think so. I get so antsy out there, you know? Without…” He trailed off, but Shane knew what he meant. Rick’s new partner was a great woman, but she wasn’t Shane.

Shane slid down to sit next to him, nudging him with his knee. “Hey. If you can’t have me out there, at least you’ve got me here, right?” He leaned in, brushing Rick’s nose with his own before Rick met him with a kiss. Rick cupped his face in his big hand, those same big hands that held him down in bed the night before, the same big hand that clapped over Shane’s mouth so he didn’t make noise when he came on Rick’s cock.

“I love your hands,” Shane said, lips grazing Rick’s as he pulled away, looking at him with dark eyes. He laced his fingers through Rick’s, and they just sat there for a moment, Judith playing merrily next to them.

“I love _you_ ,” Rick said, breaking the silence in the best possible way. “Even though you let Carl watch _Dawn of the Dead_.”

Shane huffed out a laugh. “Now how did you know we watched that earlier?”

“He texted me,” Rick said, and they both laughed.

“Traitor,” Shane murmured, leaning back against the couch. “It was a good morning.”

Rick nodded, a small smile playing at his lips. “You’re a good dad.”

Out of all the things that Rick said to him, that was the thing that made Shane fall in love with him all over again, again and again, every single day they spent together.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a play on the season 3 episode "This Sorrowful Life."


End file.
